But This Chair Is For Nitish Kumar, Lalu Yadav Was Told

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, 65, has always publicly described Lalu Yadav as his "big brother". In their alliance, as well, it is Mr Yadav who makes the larger contribution with his party outperforming that of Mr Kumar's in the last election in 2015. So Mr Kumar owes his seat of power to Mr Yadav.

But when Lalu reached a public function today in Patna, he was asked politely to vacate the chair he had occupied with the organisers explaining it was reserved for the Chief Minister.

Mr Yadav did as requested without any fuss. When Mr Kumar arrived, he was escorted to the chair in question. Mr Yadav was seated one spot away in the VIP line-up on the same stage.
 Just a few weeks ago, Lalu Yadav's party objected because he was not seated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at a huge celebration of Sikh Guru Gobind Singh's 350th birth anniversary, also in Patna the government, of which his party is a member, then clarified there was no insult intended to him.

Though Mr Yadav and Mr Kumar are often authorities not pulling in the same direction, they have denied recent reports of a growing chasm posted by Mr Kumar's support for the PM's demonetisation drive, which has been attacked by virtually every major opposition leader.

Mr Kumar on Friday appeared to truncate his lengthy enthusiasm for the notes ban by offering his frost criticism of it - he said it has not appeared to cut in on black money. He also urged opposition leaders to combine against the BJP-led central government, a petition that is likely to have cheered Mr Yadav and their other partner, the Congress, which have been worried about Mr Kumar's recent exchange of niceties with the PM.

During his visit to Patna, the PM praised Mr Kumar's controversial alcohol ban in Bihar, which was understood as a note of thanks for the Chief Minister's upbeat lobbying of the notes ban.